UPDATED: Ga. 400 tolls will be no more after Nov. 21

NORTH FULTON – In a few months you may be able to throw away that quarter jar to save change for the Ga. 400 tolls.

According to the State Road and Tollway Authority, the Ga. 400 bonds will be retired and the toll booths will disappear figuratively if not literally the fourth weekend of November.

Gov. Nathan Deal scored a popularity point when he announced last year the Ga. 400 toll would end in December 2013. His predecessor, Gov. Sonny Perdue reneged on the decades-old pledge to retire the toll on Ga. 400 when its construction bonds were paid off in 2011.

Perdue ordered new bonds purchased for Ga. 400-related projects and the 50-cent (for two-axle vehicles) continued on. Deal rescinded those plans and ordered the bonds repaid early. Now it seems Nov. 21 and no later than Nov. 23 will be toll-free.

The date was announced to avoid having the change Thanksgiving weekend. Demolition of the toll plaza won’t occur until after the first of the year, SRTA announced. That is slated to cost $4.5 million.

The three left lanes will be open to Ga. 400 traffic north and south. Cones will direct traffic away from the toll plaza until its demolition.